"Hacker School would be far worse if it didn't take place in person. Friendship, comfort and trust, all of which are necessary for effective learning, are more easily built in person than online."<p>I'm curious if this is more a consequence of the medium (internet/phone) and its lack of tools or this specific goal (developing software). I would imagine that it is easier to build a friendship through, say, playing World of Warcraft together than pair programming. Perhaps this is because software development tends to be a more solitary activity and we're slower to accept others in it.